My Name Is Earl: "GED" Review

Earl takes his first step to becoming an adult... getting his GED.

While other shows on the NBC Thursday night line-up may garner harder laughs, the consistency of the programming on My Name Is Earl is commendable. This week the show was able to have a constantly funny show, which never had us rolling on the floor, but also never had a dull moment. With that in mind, "GED" proved to be a great example of the quality with which we can expect to see week in and week out from one of NBC's better sitcoms.

The main focus of "GED" followed Earl in his attempt to cross off the newest addition to his list: Kept myself from being an adult. After getting denied for a credit card (and the t-shirt included with the application for the card) due to being homeless, jobless and uneducated, Earl decided to devote his time to helping himself become an adult worthy of owning a credit card or applying for an apartment. To do this Earl decided to take his first step into adulthood by getting an education and his GED. This was easier said than done, as due to the awful students in his school, Earl's teachers had lost their will to teach. But after becoming a substitute for the teachers, Earl was able to get the staff to band together against the teenagers to earn the respect that they so rightly deserve. While this storyline could have been cheesy, it was written instead with knowledge of how the story could have easily become another sappy school drama. By avoiding the normal traps of this genre type the show was able to find humor in the vindictive students and the revenge that was necessary for the teachers.

Earl is happy with his zucchini bread.

While the storyline for "GED" was fun, it wasn't always the story which got the laughs. More often than not, the humor from the episode was derived from the stupidity of the characters and the mocking directed towards Earl's sketchy and ignorant past. From Randy's childlike wonder attributed to all things around him (including a squirrel mask intended for small children) to Joy's berating of Earl's intelligence - with hilarious and believable scenarios in which Earl had injured and humiliated himself - we had plenty to laugh about. And what made "GED" better than some of the other recent Earl episodes was the fact that this humor was spaced out perfectly and constant enough that there wasn't any space in the episode for the show to slow down.

Another interesting element to this episode was the fact that Earl was helping himself. Always out to help others in his karmic journey, Earl has finally decided to better himself, and we love the potential derived from this new storyline. Having crossed off the first subset on his list (A. Finished High School), we will have the fun of watching Earl cross off B. Get a real job and C. Move out of the Motel in the next couple episodes. Much like the ongoing story of Joy's trial, we love that Earl is able to realize when a storyline is just too big for one episode, and is willing to take their idea and spread it across multiple episodes.

So with a funny storyline, good random humor and a logical and humorous path for Earl's character, we couldn't help but love "GED." Sure, it may not be the best episode of My Name Is Earl hell it may not even be the best episode of the season (which would go to the hilarious "South of the Border, Parts 1 & 2"), but it had enough charm and comedy to be well worth recommending. Whether you are a fan of Earl or have a passing interest in the series, the story started here in "GED" will be fun to watch and well worth your time across the next couple weeks.